Head east to the sun and into the rise of another day.

As I fully expected, I did not meet the criteria of the CAR-T cell clinical trial. Lisa, the contact at the research hospital told me that "phase II" of this trial requires candidates to have two relapses with three different courses of treatment in their histories. One of the treatments also should include monoclonal anti-body therapy, which is something I do not have as a part of my regimen.

While this was not the information I hoped for, it is information I anticipated. Still, I am not one to just say "okay" and end the conversation. I asked Lisa if I could get on a contact list should any other trials open up. She revealed that it is likely that they might be opening up another trial for my "category" of patient. I said, "that's great" and asked her how I could be notified of this trial. Lisa told me that I would have to be a patient of the hospital in order to be put on the list. I inquired, "great, how do we get that to happen?" She gave me the contact information for the hospital proper and I committed to making my call whilst I was sat in the chemo pod after work last Friday.

I followed through with my plan to call and soon received an earful of useful information as well as an e-mailed welcome packet and patient registration/information release forms. Now that I've completed those and sent them to my oncologist for review, I just need to get the thumbs up from him and off they go. Once they've been received, I will begin my new life as a patient in two cities.

Another detour ahead! Sometimes you find the best things when you take that detour. I expect I will.